SVG Partners announced that Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) has become the latest corporate partner to join the THRIVE AgTech Venture & Innovation Platform. Trimble’s broad range of GPS, variable rate implement controls, wireless communications and analytics software is increasingly delivering new capabilities for agriculture. The new relationship between Trimble and SVG’s THRIVE platform signifies the continued commitment to advancing a safer and more sustainable agriculture supply chain and to providing innovative solutions to farmers and their production partners worldwide.

“THRIVE is identifying startups that are bringing new and different technology to agriculture,” said Darryl Matthews, Trimble senior vice president. “Our aim is to advance technology by ensuring that new products have a path to the farmer and by leveraging our global distribution network of dealers who can provide a real-time feedback loop on these new technologies.”

With integrated solutions from Trimble agriculture businesses such as AgriTrend and HarvestMark, Trimble is driving new capabilities to enable farmers, agronomists, processers, equipment manufacturers and ag retailers to collect, share and manage information across the agricultural value chain in order to gain efficiencies on the farm. “Enabling farmers to integrate information is key for their operations since they are often confronted with disparate hardware and software products,” said Matthews. “If we can facilitate the timely exchange of information between the farmer and a startup, we can to act as a conduit to help these startups create better products that simplify the farmer’s experience.”

The SVG-THRIVE AgTech platform aims to create an interface between promising startups and corporate partners like Trimble to test product fit within the ecosystem of farms and determine which technologies deliver a return on investment. “We are delighted to welcome Trimble to our THRIVE Venture & Innovation Platform,” said SVG Partners and THRIVE founder John Hartnett.  

“Trimble has been a leader in precision agriculture for more than 20 years. We have a deep understanding of the market and we look forward to further advancing innovation and technology by collaborating with external partners such as THRIVE,” said Matthews.

ABOUT TRIMBLE’S AGRICULTURE DIVISION

Trimble's Agriculture Division provides solutions that solve complex technology challenges across the entire agricultural landscape. The solutions enable farmers and advisors to allocate scarce resources to produce a safe, reliable food supply in a profitable and environmentally sustainable manner. Covering all seasons, crops, terrains and farm sizes, Trimble solutions can be used on most equipment on the farm, regardless of manufacturer and production year. The acquisition of Müller-Elektronik, a German company specializing in implement control and precision farming solutions, extends Trimble's precision agriculture capabilities from the vehicle to the implement. To enable better decision making, Trimble offers technology integration that allows farmers to collect, share, and manage information across their farm, while providing improved operating efficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Trimble solutions include guidance and steering, agronomy coaching, desktop and cloud-based data management, flow and application control, water management, harvest solutions and correction services. For more information on Trimble Agriculture, visit: www.trimble.com/agriculture.

ABOUT TRIMBLE

Trimble is transforming the way the world works by delivering products and services that connect the physical and digital worlds. Core technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity and data analytics enable customers to improve productivity, quality, safety and sustainability. From purpose-built products to enterprise lifecycle solutions, Trimble software, hardware and services are transforming a broad range of industries such as agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation and logistics. For more information about Trimble, visit:  www.trimble.com.

ABOUT THE SVG PARTNERS-THRIVE VENTURE & INNOVATION PLATFORM

The THRIVE Venture & Innovation Platform works with leading corporations, startups, universities, and growers to solve the biggest challenges facing the food and agriculture industries. Yearly, THRIVE hosts a highly selective program for seed and growth stage AgTech and FoodTech startups, providing investment, top-tier mentorship, trials, and go to market support. The THRIVE Program was launched in 2014 by Silicon Valley Global Partners (SVG Partners), a venture, innovation and advisory firm based in Silicon Valley, CA. www.svgpartners.com